An Unexpected Ripple
by OracleDru
Summary: Episodic Fic. Takes place during Ripple Effect, season 9. SamJanet pairing. femslash


An Unexpected Ripple

Disclaimer: I don't own the characters, but I wrote this story for one of my friends for her birthday, so please ask before taking.

To say that news spread like wildfire at the SGC would be the understatement of a lifetime. Even with the ever increasing number of SG1 teams entering their reality, Sam knew the details of each one before the members even reached their respective holding cells. Martouf had been a surprise – but not the one that struck her interest the most.

She hadn't even realized she'd been running until she stopped to catch her breath outside the open door to an interrogation room. Subdued voices reached her ears, two belonged to teammates with whom she spent a great deal of time and one that made her heart leap inside of her with joy she barely recalled feeling before. A voice she had longed to hear for the past two years, one she had been certain she'd never hear again.

Stepping into the open doorway, she surveyed the room, her eyes coming to rest on the woman who looked rather small in comparison to the two men standing beside her. While she was still unnoticed, Sam took the time to let her gaze travel over the once memorized features she loved – brown hair tinged ever so slightly with red, tender eyes, and a body that fit amazingly into the strange khaki camouflage she was wearing, even the military jacket seemed to hug the beautiful woman's shapely curves.

When all conversations stopped, Sam knew she had been spotted. She switched her attention to Daniel, her closest friend and quite possibly the person who knew her best in their universe. He smiled sadly and patted Teal'c's shoulder. "Why don't we give them some privacy?" he asked the tall dark man in a tone that suggested he wasn't actually posing a question. Teal'c bowed his head in Sam's direction and moved to follow Daniel from the room quietly.

The brilliant astrophysicist stepped cautiously into the room, her eyes never leaving the other woman's face. After a few minutes of awkward silence, she finally managed to utter softly, disbelief ringing in her tone, "Janet."

Janet Frasier, that was no mistaking that, smiled her own sad smile and nodded. "Yes, Sam, it's me. They told me what happened to your Janet. I am so sorry."

"My Janet," Sam repeated, not missing a beat. Her eyes began to fill with tears as she stepped closer, blinking away the unwanted moisture.

Janet quickly closed the distance between them, pulling the taller woman into her arms and somehow fitting the blonde head perfectly onto her shoulder as she ran a comforting hand through the erratic golden strands. "Oh, honey, I'm sorry," the doctor whispered soothingly in the distraught woman's ear.

When the tears refused to shed, Sam drew in a shaky breath and turned her head slightly so that her nose buried itself in the soft hair that had been tickling her cheek and neck, losing herself in the moment – in her girlfriend's arms once again. It had been so long, she had almost forgotten what they'd felt like, so warm and comforting, drawing her like nothing else ever could.

Regrettably, it seemed, Janet slowly began to detangle herself. Sam pulled back and allowed the space, sensing it was needed for the conversation to come. Janet motioned to the table, and they both sat, admittedly much closer than was actually necessary, but Janet didn't seem to mind.

It was the brunette who spoke first, her hands intertwining with Sam's as she began, her compassion shining clearly from deep brown depths. "You and your Janet were in love, weren't you?" she asked quietly, her gaze never leaving Sam's face.

Nodding, Sam whispered, finally finding her voice, "Three years. We were together for almost three years."

"We've been together for five – and married for one."

Sam blinked. "Married?" she asked, confusion flooding her features.

Janet laughed and nodded, her slender fingers coming up to stroke Sam's cheek tenderly. The taller woman's eyes slid closed as she leaned into the touch. "We're life partners, love, but we usually just say married."

"Oh," Sam managed, opening her eyes once Janet's hand fell away. "How do we manage that and both work at the SGC?"

It had been so long since Sam had heard Janet giggle that it sounded like heavenly music in her ears. Both women were grinning by the time the shorter one answered with a wave of her hand, "General O'Neill may have had something to do with that. According to him, if you save the world enough times, why should a few rules stand in the way of your happiness?"

"Sounds like him," Sam replied softly, finding herself wishing more than anything that this moment would never end.

Janet stormed into Sam's lab with an air of rage boiling around her like a fog, a disposition the astrophysicist had witnessed many times before. She didn't have to wait very long before the small doctor slammed the door behind her and began to vent her anger to the one person she knew she could trust in any universe. "Of all the arrogant, pompous, despicable . . ."

Perceptively knowing where this was leading, Sam held up a hand and shook her head back and forth to stop the flow of rash words. "He is my superior officer and there isn't another choice at the moment. Come on, Jan, you know we're doing everything we can to set things right."

Sighing, Janet sat on the nearest stool, fixing Sam with a weary glare. "No, sweetie, you're doing what's best for your universe regardless of the consequences to the others – to mine."

Shaking her head, Sam sat down beside the doctor, her hand coming to rest lightly on the smaller woman's cheek. "And what about future teams that get trapped here? That's what fueled this decision, please believe that."

"I know," Janet replied softly, her eyes sliding closed as a look of despair fell over her face, "I just think you'll figure it out given enough time." Her eyes opened slowly, connecting with shimmering blue ones. "Unless . . . unless you don't want to send us back."

It took a minute for Janet's words to sink in. Blinking a few times, Sam pulled back and regarded her former lover carefully. Taking a deep breath, she shook her head and answered slowly, "Oh, Janet, no. Please don't think that. As much as I've missed you, I would never dream of asking you to stay. You need to be where you belong, with your Sam, your Cassie, healing your people. I know that's the only way you'll be happy, and I'm going to do all I can to get you home. I promise."

Feeling a wave of relief wash over her, Janet's face broke into a huge grin, and she reached over, pulling Sam to her. Their lips met in a brief, chaste kiss, which was followed by Janet's hand running its way through Sam's golden hair. "Thank you," she whispered, her fingers coming to rest on the sensitive skin on the back of Sam's neck.

The blonde shivered involuntarily at the touch and unconsciously leaned closer to the woman she still loved. "Anything for you," she whispered, her fingers stroking Janet's cheeks tenderly, choking on a sob that welled up in her throat.

As it turned out, the mission was scrapped, due to the first alternate SG1's true intentions being revealed. Thankfully this provided a way home for all of the teams they thought stranded in their universe. At least that's how Sam comforted herself as she stood next to Martouf, waiting for the love of her life to appear with the rest of her team. Sam was so distracted by the entrance of the woman who filled her thoughts that she only caught the end of what the former Tok'ra beside her was saying. He had ended with how much they missed her presence on their team.

That struck a chord in her, so she tore her eyes off of Janet and asked Martouf with a smile, "Just out of curiosity, where did I go?"

A knowing, amused glance was passed between Martouf and Janet. The doctor stepped toward Sam, a smile of her own creeping into the corners of her face as she answered in a contented tone, "Maternity leave," she supplied, stepping into a tight hug from Sam. "We're going to be the proud parents of a baby boy," she whispered joyfully into Sam's ear.

Sam couldn't help but smile at the thought and her eyes slid closed as she relished the last hug she would ever receive from her lover. After a few moments, she grudgingly relinquished her hold as she felt the smaller woman begin to pull away. She stepped back and watched as General Landry presented Janet with the cure to the prior's plague, no doubt a direct result of an earlier conversation they'd had. Sam enjoyed the expression of surprise and gratitude that spread over the doctor's entire countenance.

After accepting hugs from Daniel and Teal'c, Janet stepped back toward her team and fixed Sam with a pointed look before commenting idly, "Well, we'd love to stay, but we've got a planet to save." She didn't add the unspoken truth that lay just behind her brown eyes – that she had a pregnant wife to get back to as well.

Daniel stepped up beside his forlorn teammate as they watched this final alternate SG1 team make their way up the ramp toward the Stargate. Just before they reached the event horizon, Janet turned and caught Sam's eye, holding up her hand in a small wave of good-bye. Sam returned it, her eyes filling with tears as the woman she loved took one final step and was gone.

Putting his arm around her shoulders, Daniel asked in low tones, "You okay?"

Sam nodded, finally tearing her eyes away from the now inactive gate. "Yeah, I'm okay. At least I got to say good-bye this time."

Daniel nodded. "That you did," he responded with a sad smile. "Come one, let's go see Cassie."

That night, Janet pulled into the her shared driveway and parked next to a silver Volvo that made her heart fill with hope. It had been like pulling stitches out of a squirming child's arm to get General O'Neill to let her off the base tonight, what with the cure still being administered to patients, but she had won in the end. She pulled the pregnant, probably very worried wife card out of her pocket, and he finally caved under the pressure, allowing his favorite doctor to leave for the night. She didn't know for sure, but she had the impression that Daniel may have helped with helping the general see her point of view.

Barely containing her enthusiasm, she ripped her keys from the ignition and snatched her purse from the passenger seat before hurrying toward the house, taking the porch steps two at a time in her haste. Her wife must have heard her coming, for she was at the door, waiting for the shorter woman to fold herself in her outstretched arms.

"I missed you," a very pregnant Sam whispered before her lips landed on Janet's hair and her arms tightened as best they could in the state her body was in.

"I miss you, too," Janet replied, her voice slightly muffled by her love's shoulder. Her hand traveled to her wife's stomach, and she caressed the bulge she found there with tenderness. "And I missed Jacob. How is he been?" She asked, pulling away enough to close the door behind them before tucking herself under Sam's arm.

Giggling, Sam shook her head and replied in an amused tone, "He's fine, doctor. Not even false labor yet."

"No?" Janet asked, sounding torn between disappointment and relief.

"No," Sam answered softly, her eyes drifting to the stairs. "Cassie's sleeping upstairs."

Janet lifted an eyebrow in surprise, allowing herself to be lowered onto the couch as she settled herself in next to her wife and sighed contentedly. "Both of my girls under one roof? What prompted this?"

"You went missing, sweetie. We were worried," Sam answered softly, her eyes on the blank television set as her fingers tangled themselves in Janet's soft hair. "And you should have seen Jack worrying about Daniel. It was positively priceless. Helped keep my mind off of you for a little while."

Janet smiled and allowed her head to droop onto Sam's chest as her eyes closed in exhaustion, a small smile creeping its way onto her face. "Sounds like General O'Neill. Glad you had something to distract you."

"And you? Was there another me there?" Sam asked, now stroking her wife's hair soothingly.

Nodding, the doctor replied sleepily, "Yeah, there were several other Sams there, but I mostly spent my time with the one from that actual reality."

"What was so special about her?"

Janet giggled. "Besides the fact that she was the only one allowed to roam about the base unescorted?" She drew in a deep breath and slid her arms around her lover as she snuggled closer, feeling Sam's warmth. "She'd lost her Janet two years ago. I think it helped having me there, even if it was just for a little while."

"Lost?" Sam mused quietly, her fingers pausing momentarily.

"Mm-hmm," Janet replied drowsily, "Died . . . errant staff blast . . ." she trailed off, her breathing slowing as it became apparent that she had dozed off mid-sentence.

Leaning over as best she could, the pregnant woman placed a tender kiss on the forehead of her lover and allowed a single tear to escape from the corner of her eye, splashing silently in Janet's hair. "God help that Sam," she whispered, grateful for every moment she had with the woman she loved.


End file.
